This is how much it will cost to beat load-shedding using solar panels

Hanno Labuschagne

Hanno Labuschagne

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This is how much it will cost to beat load-shedding using solar panels

Eskom recently restarted its practice of load-shedding, regularly cutting power in certain areas to prevent a total failure of South Africa's electric grid.

This is in addition to its use of "load reduction" in areas where Eskom states that a high prevalence of illegal connections threatens to overload its infrastructure.

Experts predict that South Africans should brace for many more years of rotational blackouts in the country.
 
1geoff99

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There are many other excellent options left out between R8000 and R89000. E.g. 24V 2.4kW pure sine wave inverter plus 2x200Ah batteries for about R20000.
 
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Napalm2880

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All the talk in the forums are around Growatt, Mecer, Axpert inverters, yet we have articles that mention other brands. Forgive me if I'm hesitant to put money down on anything that isn't talked about at length in the forums.
 
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yogidabear

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Not sure I would recommend the Tesla Powerwall 2 as my experience has not been that great and like @Napalm2880 says there is not a lot of other existing users I can draw from. It was installed a few months ago as backup only with the intention of adding solar later. Long story but it does not work well as a backup as it raises the frequency to 55Hz during load shedding. This causes havoc as the TV restarts, lights on dimmers flicker on and off. Have blown fuses, lights. Tesla is aware of the problem and there is supposedly a firmware fix in the pipeline but for the price you pay its very disappointing.
 
SilverCode

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1geoff99 said:
There many other excellent options left out between R8000 and R89000. E.g. 24V 2.4Kw pure sine wave inverter plus 2x200Ah batteries for about R20000.
Click to expand...
During the last round of load shedding at the beginning of the year, I bought an invertar and 2 x 100 Ah batteries for R14k. Those 2 x 100 Ah batteries are more than enough to run my PC, Server, network equipment, 50" TV, sound system and a lamp for 2 hours without getting close to low battery.

I over spec'd my setup because I didn't know what I am doing, and I overpaid for it because it was during the load shedding frenzy.

As long as you are not trying to run a stove or other large appliance off of it, you can easily get away with a R15k setup powering all the comfort essentials in your house without resorting to a full on solar setup.
 
Lupus

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SilverCode said:
During the last round of load shedding at the beginning of the year, I bought an invertar and 2 x 100 Ah batteries for R14k. Those 2 x 100 Ah batteries are more than enough to run my PC, Server, network equipment, 50" TV, sound system and a lamp for 2 hours without getting close to low battery.

I over spec'd my setup because I didn't know what I am doing, and I overpaid for it because it was during the load shedding frenzy.

As long as you are not trying to run a stove or other large appliance off of it, you can easily get away with a R15k setup powering all the comfort essentials in your house without resorting to a full on solar setup.
Click to expand...
By low battery you mean 50%
 
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I recently bought 2 x 105Ah batteries, 3KVA Axpert inverter, 2 x 305W Canadian Solar panels and all cables connectors, fuses, solar panel mounting brackets, etc. for about R18.5k. Delivered to my door.

I am hoping to install it this weekend. It's just me at home, so I should be able to run my office including my PC, CCTV and fibre connection during load shedding, which is all I really need. I measured the load to between 200-225W. Already have a gas stove for cooking and (more importantly) coffee. :)

When I have the cash available again, I'll add two more solar panels and batteries.
 
TheChamp

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avk said:
I recently bought 2 x 105Ah batteries, 3KVA Axpert inverter, 2 x 305W Canadian Solar panels and all cables connectors, fuses, solar panel mounting brackets, etc. for about R18.5k. Delivered to my door.

I am hoping to install it this weekend. It's just me at home, so I should be able to run my office including my PC, CCTV and fibre connection during load shedding, which is all I really need. I measured the load to between 200-225W. Already have a gas stove for cooking and (more importantly) coffee. :)

When I have the cash available again, I'll add two more solar panels and batteries.
Click to expand...
Mind sharing the name of the supplier?
 
TheChamp

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profa

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1geoff99 said:
There are many other excellent options left out between R8000 and R89000. E.g. 24V 2.4kW pure sine wave inverter plus 2x200Ah batteries for about R20000.
Click to expand...
This ^. I got a 3kva/3000 watt inverter with 2x200a/h gel batteries for R16k installed. The inverter is crap though as I then installed 1670w worth of panels (at a cost of R15k installed) and only manage to get at best 1000w of power from them. Just over 60% efficiency sucks.
 
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HendrieV

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What you are getting from your setup sounds about par for the course. Why is the inverter to blame?
 
TheChamp

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HendrieV said:
What you are getting from your setup sounds about par for the course. Why is the inverter to blame?
Click to expand...
It could a PWM inverter as I also think 670W unaccounted for on a good sunny day is too much.
 
TheChamp

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ambroseg1 said:
This ^. I got a 3kva/3000 watt inverter with 2x200a/h gel batteries for R16k installed. The inverter is crap though as I then installed 1670w worth of panels (at a cost of R15k installed) and only manage to get at best 1000w of power from them. Just over 60% efficiency sucks.
Click to expand...
What's the max solar input for your inverter? You can also drop a link for the model.
 
Tander

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ambroseg1 said:
This ^. I got a 3kva/3000 watt inverter with 2x200a/h gel batteries for R16k installed. The inverter is crap though as I then installed 1670w worth of panels (at a cost of R15k installed) and only manage to get at best 1000w of power from them. Just over 60% efficiency sucks.
Click to expand...

The lady next door gets 65% out of hers. That's near enough what you can expect from panels. Even more so if they are not north facing. My panels get 80% efficiency - but they're north facing with zero shading.
 
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